Punk in Africa: A selection (DJ Zhao)

Punk in Africa is a documentary currently touring cinemas and film festivals which looks at the history of punk rock music in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and Kenya from the 1970s to the present. The film examines the fascinating social and political context behind the music’s emergence in the different countries and it subsequent evolution to today’s scene.

To coincide with the film’s promotion, worldy-wise DJ Zhao has put together a really great and rather lengthy (75 minutes) mix journeying across the different interpretations of punk music “demonstrating the connectedness between Rock and Roll and its African roots, between power chords and dance beats, between decades past and today, between defiant youth in London and defiant youth in Zimbabwe.” The mix is nicely put together and features some cheeky edits and mash-ups along the way and even includes a few contemporary global bass sounds for good measure. The film offer a great insight into a previously under exposed piece of African musical history and DJ Zhao’s selection is the perfect accompanying soundtrack.